Chapter 877: How Could the Cuju of Our Great China Be Said to Be Weaker Than That of Foreigners?

"This World Cup is the most anticipated tournament in recent years for the football world."

These were Morgan's exact words on his radio program.

In this same radio episode, Morgan also explicitly expressed his support for Portugal, consistent with his long-held view that Cristiano Ronaldo is greater than Messi.

The semi-final between Portugal and Argentina certainly has its highlights, but the "gratitude match" between China and France can be said to have even greater appeal; at least judging by ticket prices, the "gratitude match" tickets are about 15% more expensive.

Rodri, De Jong, and De Ligt have successively fallen in the campaign to overthrow TY, only to be ruthlessly beheaded.

Next comes Dembélé; whether he can halt China's advance is indeed a question very worth pondering.

Tang Ye and Dembélé, those two rascals, are quite something too, interacting non-stop on Instagram past 11 PM as if their match had already concluded.

【Dembélé: Why did I get drawn against China (crying) (crying) (crying).】

【Tang Ye: Haha, it's fine, we're not as formidable as you imagine, don't worry too much.】

【Dembélé: No, Tom, what I mean is, I'm a bit embarrassed to knock you out.】

【Tang Ye:...】

【Tang Ye: (middle finger) (spanking) (insulting)】

【Dembélé: Do you think I can win next year's Ballon d'Or if I beat you in the semi-finals?】

【Tang Ye: Sure, bro, I think it's possible. (thumbs up)】

Chatting from 11 PM until past 1 AM, Tang Ye and Dembélé used Instagram as if it were WeChat, with a string of replies stretching incredibly long, each comment garnering at least 500 likes.

Dembélé is truly absurd, directly asking Tang Ye if he can win the 2023 Ballon d'Or; it's hard not to suspect these two guys took Meta's advertising money to generate traffic on Instagram.

【Brother Deng, are you finally revealing your ambition? I knew Dembélé harbored ill intentions! Tang Ye should have chopped him down before Dembélé could rise!】

【Brother Deng: Tom, may I ask how heavy the Ballon d'Or trophy is; can I lift it?】

Fortunately, this year's Ballon d'Or selection has already concluded ahead of schedule; otherwise, adding this World Cup into the mix...

Well, unless Dembélé scores ten goals in the next two matches, this year's Ballon d'Or should still belong to Tang Ye.

Overall, Dembélé's success rate in suppressing Tang Ye to claim the Ballon d'Or is less than 1%, yet he just loves to talk big.

Regardless of whether he can take down the big brother, he might as well enjoy the trash talk during the World Cup, otherwise once he returns to the club, he won't be able to do anything at all.

In Dembélé's homeland of France, the national team's genius forward's remarks sparked support from many fervent fans, with some even creating comics and short videos in response.

【Title: What Lies Beyond the Mountain?】

Slap!

Slap slap!

Waves from the Atlantic Ocean crashed onto the beach as the AI-face-swapped Dembélé walked forward alone.

Looking ahead, a massive mountain rose from the seabed, towering into the clouds.

No matter how fierce the Atlantic waves became, they simply could not inflict the slightest damage on this mountain; one could even sense the divinity behind this peak through the phone screen.

Reaching the summit above the clouds, you would discover a pink pig avatar pasted on the high tip of the mountain, with the Arabic numeral "10" written beneath the avatar.

This mountain forcefully separated the beach from the opposite shore of the Atlantic, causing people on the beach to be unable to see the spherical trophy glowing with golden light on the other side.

The protagonist gazed into the distance and began muttering to himself.

【What lies beyond the mountain?】

【You don't need to tell me.】

【I will go see for myself.】

The scene shifted to show Dembélé, wearing the France national team jersey, facing off against Tang Ye across the void.

【Paris Time, December 15th, 6 PM, Qatar World Cup Semi-Final: The Sword of France that Slays Gods】

The so-called "Sword of France that Slays Gods" is actually just little Dembélé, who has been suppressed by Tang Ye time and again in the Ballon d'Or rankings.

Compared to France, the AI face-swap videos on the Chinese side were far more arrogant.

"Bad news, bad news!"

In a magnificent palace, several eunuchs rushed in hurriedly: "The foreigners' troops are attacking!"

"Outrageous!"

Cixi, whose face had been swapped with Tang Ye's, was furious: "Rather than compromising to survive and bringing shame upon ten thousand mouths, why not launch a grand punitive expedition to decide the outcome? How can it be said that the cuju of our great China is weaker than that of the foreigners?"

"Declare war on the Kingdom of France!"

Diario Sport — Even if China cannot defeat France, they still favor TY to win the World Cup Golden Ball.

Owen predicts the score for the China-France match: France shuts out China 3-0.

Editor-in-Chief of Mundo Deportivo: The so-called "Sword of France that Slays Gods" does not exist; for France to defeat China, they must pay equal attention to both the left and right flanks, otherwise they may pay a heavy price.

Recently, major media outlets have been offering advice to Escrivá, looking for any clever trick to pull off an upset and take down France.

Fans' imaginations are incredibly rich, even proposing numerous abstract tactics that are "theoretically feasible."

As China's opponent, French fans are also extremely nervous.

There is no help for it; China is the biggest dark horse of this World Cup; Spain and the Netherlands, who previously underestimated them, have already gone home; although France possesses strong hard power, they must still remain vigilant.

The confrontation between fans of both sides has also led to a scene of magical artillery duels before the semi-final begins: supporters of the Chinese team propose a tactic, and supporters of the French team immediately study that tactic and design a method to break it, resembling a challenge of chess endgames.

For instance, the "Braised Pork Belly on the Wing" tactic launched by Chinese fans (referring to Tang Ye playing as a wing-back to limit Dembélé) was neutralized by French fans within just ten minutes of being posted online using the "Turtle and Little Brother" tactic (referring to Mbappé and Dembélé flying together on the wings), because no matter what, even if you are the strongest little pig or the strongest braised pork belly, your individual ability is still very limited.

Braised pork belly marking the Turtle one-on-one? No problem!

Braised pork belly marking Little Brother one-on-one? No problem!

Braised pork belly marking the Turtle and Little Brother one-on-one?

That's a huge problem!

The Turtle and Little Brother are not one person, but fully two; this has already exceeded the scope of one-on-one marking.

As for other things like exchanging red cards, brawling in the player tunnel, or the tactic of James disguising himself to play as a striker, these fall outside the realm of serious competition and need not be discussed; they are purely fans indulging in self-gratification.

The fact is, you cannot place a bet on the national team winning the World Cup just because you dreamed of it; there will always be a gap between dreams and reality.

……

Match Preview: In the early hours of December 16, the national team will face the defending champions, France, in the first World Cup semifinal in the country's history.

Marca predicts the starting lineup for the China-France match: Dembélé and Mbappé to crush Ty.

Reprinting from The Telegraph – The French team's official media released a semifinal teaser poster: God-Slayer.

……

Time quickly arrived at match day, and Doha, the capital of Qatar, was filled with posters of the four semifinal teams.

French fans, mesmerized by YouTube videos, used the poster of Dembélé as the "Sword of France that Slays Gods" regardless of copyright issues.

Thus, the photo of Dembélé looking up at Gaoshan was printed on small flags; French fans held a small national flag in their left hand and a "Sword of France that Slays Gods" flag in their right, looking incredibly cool.

"Dembélé!"

"Dembélé!"

"Mbappé!"

"Kylian Mbappé!"

"Defeat Tang Ye!"

Actually, due to the connections between Tang Ye, Dembélé, and Mbappé, Chinese and French fans have generally remained quite friendly toward each other.

But this friendliness is limited to off the field; once they meet in a match, neither side can hold back, and a winner must be determined.

To cheer for their home team, French fans also shouted their slogan: Football cannot have only one king.

Football is fair; every outstanding player deserves to be celebrated.

Only when two kings constrain and oppose each other, just like in the era of Messi and Ronaldo, can fans witness exciting football matches.

But what are everyone watching now?

Tang Ye leading Manchester United to thrash the entire world!

How can this be allowed!

Fans resent Manchester United, but alas, they lack the ability to bring them down.